Even Race Unfolds For Lewis, Kleinhans

The two candidates for the 8th House District have raised roughly the same amount of money and are both conducting vigorous campaigns with thousands of door-to-door campaign visits.

Joan Lewis, a Democrat who has many years of experience holding public office in Coventry, is battling Robert Kleinhans, a Republican member of the Vernon Town Council, for the House seat being vacated by state Rep. Patrick Flaherty. Flaherty is running for the 35th Senate District seat.

Both Lewis and Kleinhans say they're busy taking their campaigns to the people of Coventry, Columbia and a section of Vernon south of I-84, the towns in the 8th District. They're familiarizing themselves with residents' concerns and introducing themselves.

Both Lewis, a member of the Coventry Town Council, and Kleinhans were widely known in their towns. Both now have the task of making sure they become known in the other two towns in the district.

Lewis, 65, an estate-planning paralegal, said she has knocked on ``more than a thousand'' doors. She said the big issues on people's minds include getting good educations for their children, affording prescription drugs for seniors, doing something about high property taxes and keeping open spaces open.

Lewis, who also served on the Coventry school board, said she knows the problems of Connecticut towns. She believes that municipalities are being cheated out of their fair share of federal dollars and she wants to find ways to get more.

This is Kleinhans' second attempt at the House. The 45-year-old mortgage broker lost two years ago to Flaherty, who was a four-term incumbent. This time, the deputy mayor of Vernon thinks he has enough name recognition to help him outside his hometown. He said he has visited 2,500 homes to deliver his message.

Kleinhans said he believes district residents want more money from the state for education and fewer demands that aren't backed with the money needed to meet them.

``I believe in the simpler approach for state government,'' he said. He said state government should focus mostly on public health, safety and education.

Like Lewis, he would seek to secure more federal dollars, but he also thinks the state spends too much money on business incentives. He wants to cut programs that aren't helping.

So far, Kleinhans has raised $11,190 in campaign funds, according to his most recent report to the Secretary of the State's office on Tuesday. That included $875 from Vernon's Republican Town Committee. He has also scheduled a last-minute fund-raiser Oct. 28 featuring Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell.

Lewis has raised an almost equal amount, $11,312, according to an Oct. 10 filing. That included almost $1,000 from labor groups and several hundred dollars from Democratic organizations. It also included $100 from Flaherty.

Lewis' plan until the Nov. 5 election is ``just keep doing what I've been doing, door-knocking and getting out.''

Same goes for Kleinhans:

``Keep talking to voters. I learned that from Patrick Flaherty two years ago.''